Mokuleia sky diver hurt
doing a last-minute turn

A sky diver was flown to the Queen's Medical Center in critical condition yesterday after a hard landing in Mokuleia.

The sky diver, who jumped with the Pacific Skydiving Center, landed at Dillingham Airfield sometime around 11:41 a.m.

Guy Banal, president and owner of Pacific Skydiving Center, said the sky diver is in the hospital's intensive care unit, and declined further comment. The company closed for business yesterday following the incident.

According to sky-diving experts at Dillingham Airfield, the sky diver did a high-speed, high-risk maneuver called a "low turn" at about 50 feet and did not have enough altitude to come out of his turn.

Experts said the experienced sky diver, who is originally from the East Coast and is spending his third winter in Hawaii, suffered multiple fractures.

Skydive Hawaii President Frank Hinshaw, whose company also closed for business yesterday, said the low-turn maneuver is "probably one of the biggest killers in the sport. Everything has to be perfect. If you're a little bit slow, if you get a little bit of turbulence, you can really hurt yourself."

"Nationally, it's a problem," he added.

Skydive Hawaii does not allow sky divers to make low turns, said Hinshaw.

This is the second sky diving-related incident involving companies at Dillingham Airfield in eight days.

On Feb. 6, Navy Petty Officer 2nd Class Jeremy Barrett died after his parachute failed to open. He was found on the sand at Mokuleia Beach. Barrett had made 171 jumps with Skydive Hawaii.

"It's a terrible, tragic coincidence," said Hinshaw of yesterday's incident. He noted that the sky-diving community is praying for the sky diver's recovery.

Meanwhile, a memorial jump is expected to be held Saturday at Dillingham Airfield to honor Barrett.